Judge accused of racism over rape claims

Gauteng High Court Judge Mabel Jansen claims she is being unfairly accused of being a racist who believes rape is part of black culture after snippets of Facebook conversations were published on Twitter. The judge says her comments were taken out of context, and that she was referring specifically to rape cases she has heard. And according to Business Day, the Judicial Service Commission confirmed yesterday it had received correspondence that a complaint was on its way. A News24 report says well-known activist Gillian Schutte posted excerpts of written exchanges with Jansen at the weekend, in which Jansen said, among other comments: ‘In their culture a woman is there to pleasure them.’ Jansen, whose husband died on Saturday, reportedly told News24 the comments referred specifically to the cases she had handled. They formed part of a private Facebook inbox exchange from last May, emanating from an attempt by Jansen to get help for the victims of the rape and assault cases that she hears. It worried her that victims were often alone with no help – especially children, and women raped by a relative or family member. She was told Schutte would be able to give her advice on how to help them, and they started communicating via Facebook.